A perfect union
Once she married the much older James Madison, in 1794, Dolley Madison became a celebrity of the founding generation—popular but polarizing. Her enemies circulated rumors that Thomas Jefferson had sold her sexual services, and they attacked her for her aristocratic pretensions. But the author argues that, as the architect of Washington's social scene, Dolley gave the new republic the forum it needed for the development of an indigenous political culture. If Allgor occasionally overreaches she captures Dolley's charisma and her essential role in the politics of her time. Charles Pinckney, the loser in the 1808 election, was, he wrote, 'beaten by Mr. and Mrs. Madison.' He added, 'I might have had a better chance had I faced Mr. Madison alone.'
- Creator
- Allgor, Catherine